Essential road upgrades will bring new businesses and jobs to Peterborough

Essential road upgrades that will bring new businesses and jobs to Peterborough will start Thursday 3 August 2017.

Extra capacity is being added to two junctions: junction 17 of the A1(M) and junction 1 of the A1139 Fletton Parkway to the south west of the city. It will enable the expansion of the Gateway Peterborough business park.

At the same time, Cambridgeshire County Council will fully resurface the A1(M) junction 17 roundabout.

The work has been planned in a partnership between Highways England, Cambridgeshire County Council, Peterborough City Council, Gateway Peterborough’s owners Roxhill Developments and their contractors Winvic, and is expected to take around five months to be complete.

Aran Nugent, Highways England capital delivery team leader, said: “We’re very clear that there can be no repeat of the disruption that drivers suffered last time there were road works at junction 17 of the A1(M). We’ve looked closely at what happened then and we are doing everything we can to make sure that the work happening now will cause minimal disruption for drivers.

“As well as completing the vast majority of the work overnight, we’re working together to publicise the work across the area using mobile digital signage and lifting roadworks for major events such as Bonfire Night. Customer service is a priority for Highways England, and by working closely with our partners in the council we hope to keep drivers fully on the move throughout this work and to help people understand the benefits of this work.”

Sonia Hansen, Cambridgeshire County Council traffic manager, said: “We have been working closely with Highways England, Peterborough City Council and Winvic, the developer’s contractor, to ensure we’re all working together and coordinating the works for Peterborough Gateway.

“During the work planned on the A1(M) slip roads at junction 17 there will be some weekend closures towards the end of October. We have made sure our work can be carried out at the same time to try and minimise the amount of disruption to the public.

“We will be reconstructing four sections of the roundabout, this work is not just resurfacing, it will involve digging deeper than normal and re-building parts of the road to ensure longevity for around 15 years. It will require some full weekend closures as it would not be safe to open while the work is being carried out.

“We’d ask drivers to follow the signed diversion route and allow extra time for their journeys. We have all worked hard to forward plan and reduce the impact the work will have but delays are expected.”